IR4.0 adoption crucial for SMEs to remain relevant

“The government assistance through tax incentives or grants are also key to help these SMEs compete, but some similar initiatives that are present are still encumbered by high bureaucracy,” said Soh.

PETALING JAYA: It is key for local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to invest some capital to scale up to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0) capabilities, or else they risk being phased out of existence eventually.

Moving into IR4.0 would entail an upfront capital cost, but then this would be balanced out by lower labour costs over the longer term, since these technologies would be more efficient compared with human labour.